High School Blitz

Thursday

Sep 29, 2011 at 10:39 PM

By Larry SavageHigh school sports editor

4 things of note in area sports

*St. Francis baseball coach Kevin Maris, his brother and assistant coach Randy and the rest of their family were part of a pregame ceremony at Yankee Stadium last Saturday to honor their late father Roger Maris. They were on hand to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the slugger's then single-season record 61st home run. “I spoke to them definitely, took some pictures with them, signed some stuff with them,” said New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who escorted Roger's widow, Pat Maris onto the field. “It is a great family, good people. We had a good time that day.”

*Lindsey Cable won both of her singles matches and also posted a win in doubles action to lead the Stetson women's team at last weekend's UCF Invitational in Orlando. The former P.K. Yonge star, who was The Sun's three-time girls tennis player of the year from 2008-2010, did not drop a set in singles action and was 1-2 with doubles partner Shannon Gunning at the fall-season opening event.*Oak Hall volleyball is holding its third Dig Pink event when it hosts Keystone Heights today at 5 p.m. The Builders Club, a service organization made up of Oak Hall middle school students, will be selling homemade pink cupcakes, pink lemonade, pink bandanas, pink hair ribbons in addition to having raffles for prizes. Both teams will be wearing pink jerseys and using pink volleyballs. Oak Hall teacher Kim Davis, a breast cancer survivor, will address the crowd for a few minutes starting at 4:50 before Eagles player Emily Wiechmann sings The Star Spangled Banner. Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for students with all proceeds going to the Side-Out Foundation for breast cancer research*Participation in high school sports increased for the 22nd consecutive school year in 2010-11, according to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Sports participation for the 2010-11 school year reached another record-breaking total of 7,667,955 participants. In Florida there were 139,751 male participants spanning 16 sports with 105,328 female participants in 18 sports. — Cliff Olsen

Games of the WeekPrediction records: Cliff Olsen 50-20 (15-5 last week), Larry Savage 49-21 (14-6), Laura Bernheim 44-26 (13-7), Paul Kardasz 44-26 (14-6); All games start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted, predictions at bottom of each preview5A EASTSIDE (1-3) AT 6A NO. 6 GAINESVILLE (4-0): Huge city-rivalry game between two schools whose programs have gone in different directions over the last three years. The Hurricanes, a state semifinalist a year ago and who have won 16 straight games at Citizens Field, will be looking for their third straight win over the Rams. Before that 32-29 victory over Eastside in 2009, the Rams had won five straight in the series. An upset tonight and Eastside, which beat Buchholz to open the season (24-19), would claim the mythical city title. The Rams, led offensively by junior QB Trey Johnson (386 yards, 3 TDs, 3 Ints.) and senior RB Steven Glover (223 yards, 3 TDs), have lost three straight since beating the Bobcats on Sept. 2. Gainesville's defense, led by DB Chris Bivins and LBs Tashon Whitehurst and Keith Kelsey, has not allowed a TD in 14 straight quarters. Junior RB Ralph Webb had a season-high 159 yards rushing in a 29-6 win over Ocala Trinity Catholic, and junior QB Mark Cato passed for 212 yards and 3 TDs in last week's 38-0 District 5-6A win at Lake Weir. This game will be broadcast locally on AM-1230 and online at theprepzoneonline.comLS: GHS; CO: GHS; PK: GHS; LB: GHS3A FORT WHITE (3-1) AT 1A NO. 1 UNION COUNTY (3-0):(3-0): The host Tigers' toughest test so far this season. The visiting Indians are coming off a come-from-behind 23-21 win over Wakulla in which QB Andrew Baker tossed a short pass to A.J. Legree, who then threw a lateral to Soron Williams, who ran it 65 yards for a TD with 12 seconds left. The Tigers went on the road last week and ran over Chiefland (42-0), totaling 321 yards on the ground and getting 100-yard games from RBs Josh Tyson (104, 1 TD) and P.J. Alexander (102 on 5 carries, 1 TD). Since 2002, these schools have met five times with Fort White holding a 3-2 edge, which included last season's 31-12 victory.LS: UC; CO: FW; PK: UC; LB: FWOCALA VANGUARD (2-1) AT COLUMBIA (2-2): A tough test for the home-standing Tigers, who have won two straight, including a victory over Buchholz, which the visiting Knights pounded 56-0 last week in Gainesville. Columbia is coming off a convincing win over Orange Park Oakleaf, 66-7, in its District 3-6A opener. First-year coach Brian Allen changed his QB to junior Jayce Barber after Week 2, and he passed for 168 yards and three TDs in last week's win. The Tigers, who blocked two punts, also scored two defensive touchdowns on fumble returns. Vanguard, which is receiving votes in the Class 6A poll, got a big performance last week from junior WR Cameron Livingston, who caught 5 passes for 163 yards and three TDs. QB Cody Miller passed for 225 yards. LS: VAN; CO: VAN; PK: VAN; LB: VANMONTICELLO AUCILLA CHRISTIAN (3-1) AT ST. FRANCIS (3-1), 7 P.M.: A non-district game but still an important one for the Wolves, who are coming off a disappointing 41-13 loss in their District 2-2A opener at Jacksonville University Christian. Looming next Friday is their city-rival game with Oak Hall, with the loser likely knocked out of the district race. St. Francis has the area's leading rusher in Grant Maris (540 yards, 5 TDs), leading receiver in Bryan LaCivita (15 catches, 199 yards, 5 TDs), and one of the leading passers in QB Tommy Ferry (505 yards, 7 TDs). Since losing to Oak Hall at home 42-12, the Warriors have outscored their last two opponents 107-13.LS: SF; CO: SF; PK: SF; LB: SFOther gamesTALLAHASSEE MACLAY (2-1) AT OAK HALL (3-1), 7 P.M.: A non-district matchup, but like St. Francis, an important one for the host Eagles, who lost a tough District 2-2A opener to Jacksonville Eagle's View (14-6) last week at home. Oak Hall can ill afford to look ahead to the Wolves. The Marauders have won two straight since falling to Florida A&M. The Eagles are led by QB Jared Armstrong (596 yards, 7 TDs), RB Leon Cummings (339 yards, 5 TDs) and defensively by end Josh Noble (area-leading 5 sacks).LS: OH; CO: OH; PK: OH; LB: OHSNEADS (4-0) AT LAFAYETTE (1-2): The host Hornets, who are off to a slow start this season, were idle last week, so they've had two weeks to prepare for the unbeaten Pirates in this non-district contest. Sneads' junior fullback Tre Keys leads the state in rushing (931 yards, 15 TDs), according to MaxPreps.com and has rushed for more than 300 yards in his last 2 games. Lafayette, which lost to Dixie County in its last game (28-21), are led by RB J.R. Bass (506 yards, 4 TDs). Freshman defensive back Jajuan Commacho is tied for the area-lead with 3 interceptions, but Sneads has only made 5 pass attempts this season.LS: SNEADS; CO: LAF; PK: LAF; LB: LAF1A NEWBERRY (1-3) AT 7A OCALA WEST PORT (2-2): A tough road trip for coach Chris Baker and the Panthers. Newberry showed plenty of offense in the first and fourth quarters in last week's loss to Williston, led by junior RB Ra'kheem Hoyt (197 yards, 46 carries). QB Brandon Herbert passed for 168 yards and 3 TDs. The host Wolf Pack, who play in District 1-7A along with Buchholz, are coming off a 59-14 district loss to city-rival Ocala Forest. West Port's K'Von Brown has 15 receptions. LS: WP; CO: NEW; PK: NEW; LB: WP6A ORANGE PARK OAKLEAF (0-3) AT 4A BRADFORD (4-0): The host Tornadoes had perhaps their most complete victory of the season in last week's 50-7 pounding of Umatilla in their District 4-4A opener. QB Austin Chipoletti has passed for seven TDs and 597 yards while Dexter Clayton has a team-leading 340 yards rushing. In losses to Clay and Columbia, the visiting Knights gave up 116 total points.LS: BRAD; CO: BRAD; PK: BRAD; LB: BRAD1A NO. 3 THE VILLAGES (3-0) AT 4A KEYSTONE HEIGHTS (1-2): The host Indians have lost two straight since their season-opening win at Hawthorne. RB Alex Gonzales leads the team in rushing with 405 yards and two TDs, and WR Chase Julius has eight receptions for 100 yards. The Buffalo, who pass the football on occasion, average 243 yards on the ground.LS: VILL; CO: KH; PK: VILL; LB: VILLWILLISTON (2-2) AT WILDWOOD (3-1): These two non-district teams have had some great battles in the past, and tonight's game should be another one. Red Devils RB Brandon Preston scored two TDs on his first two carries last week en route to 168 yards in a 47-31 win at Newberry. The host Wildcats have won three straight after a season-opening loss to county-rival South Sumter.LS: WILD; CO: WILL; PK: WILL; LB: WILDHAMILTON COUNTY (0-3) AT DIXIE COUNTY (1-3): Bears sophomore QB Duke Dawson leads the team in rushing (327 yards) and passing (312). Hamilton County coach Mike Pittman led Suwannee to four straight state titles between 1987-1990.LS: DC; CO: DC; PK: DC; LB: DCCHIEFLAND (0-4) AT CRESCENT CITY (0-4): Could be the Indians' best opportunity to end the area's longest losing streak, which is at 17 games and counting. Chiefland has scored 26 points in four games while the Warriors have scored 50.LS: CC; CO: CC; PK: CHIEF; LB: CCP.K. YONGE (2-2) AT TALLAHASSEE FLORIDA HIGH (3-1): Another non-district game. The Blue Wave have given up 100 points total in dropping their last two games. QB D'Karas Fields leads the area with 840 yards passing and seven TDs. The Seminoles' only loss was at 7A No. 4 Tallahassee Lincoln (27-21).LS: FLA HIGH; CO: FLA HIGH; PK: FLA HIGH; LB: FLA HIGH1A BELL (0-4) AT 3A JACKSONVILLE BISHOP SNYDER (2-2), 7 P.M.: Bulldog sophomore RB Austin Richey is among the area leaders in rushing with 530 yards and four TDs. In the last two weeks, Bishop Snyder lost to Trenton 52-0 and beat Bronson 34-14.LS: JBS; CO: JBS; PK: JBS; LB: JBSBRONSON (0-3) AT OCALA CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (2-1), 7 P.M.: Including last year's schedule, the visiting Eagles have lost 10 straight games going into tonight's game in Ocala. Sophomore RB Brock Bower has more than 200 yards rushing. The host Crusaders have a balanced offense (172 yards rush, 155 pass per game).LS: OCA; CO: BRON; PK: OCA; LB: BRONIdle: Branford, Hawthorne, Interlachen, Suwannee, Trenton

Attention coachesPlease call in your box scores to 352-374-5050 each night by 10:30. Football coaches should call in their box scores no later than 11:30 p.m. on Fridays.Athlete of the week nominations are made via phone call on Sundays between 4-7 p.m. Football, volleyball, golf and cross country coaches should email their weekly statistics to Paul Kardasz at kardasp@sunwriters.com Swimming coaches are asked to e-mail their honor roll candidates to Dee Flowers (dflow50@aol.com) each week by Monday night. If you have no changes, please send her a note saying so.

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